Mac

Upon his death ...

a poem for Father Mac MacMillan

by Mother Gwendolyn-Jane Romeril

A giant entered

Heaven’s gates

walking without

a limp. He wore

the Kilt of his Clan,

a Balmoral, and was

preceded by Pipes.

 

His gentle smile

and kind ways

invited us into

Colum Cille for

conversations of

some depth. Mac

served hot tea and

scones. Surrounded

by books and icons

we were at home.

 

At Eucharist in his

room last week he

was quiet, radiant,

and peaceful all the

while actively detaching

from this world,

moving into the next.

 

His giant heart and brain

served the Church for many

years – social justice,

champion of blacks, women

and gays, liturgical scholar,

eminent theologian, historian,

teacher of the faith. How many

begged him to write a book to

capture his wisdom and wit?

 

 

His deep faith of our Lord

was woven into his life so

meticulously that to be with

him was to be with Jesus. A

man of prayer disciplined to

kneeling, he knelt with his soul

when his body refused to bend

to the posture he loved.

 

A profile in courage as he dealt

with personal grief, pain and

physical diminishment, we marveled

that his heart and brain stayed

the course. In his 80^th year he

wrote an icon, his brush dancing

with the Holy Spirit. He chose

life, and a wife, to live life

again to the full. The Celtic

connection was strong. It passes

now to the generations in his train.

 

Priest, colleague, Father Confessor,

friend, husband, father, grandfather,

witness to the faith, you bless us

still. Your presence remains strong

even as we release you to the Banquet.

The Holy One awaits. Thanks be to God.

 

                  Gwendolyn-Jane Romeril

                  10 September 2008

From Diocese of Bethlehem blog newSpin:

The Rev. Canon Alexander Malcolm MacMillan died September 9.

"He was known to and loved by many in this diocese and in the wider Church," Bishop Paul Marshall wrote to the diocesan community early the following day. "An early champion of civil rights in the South and then the structures of the church, Canon MacMillan was a dedicated parish priest, liturgical innovator, and supporter of the spiritual development of many."

Read more here.

The picture at the top of this page shows Fr. Mac displaying the icon he wrote with members of my parish during an iconography workshop at Trinity, Easton, PA in 2002.